Last week's massive earthquake in western India has thrown in doubt Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's planned official visit to Japan this month -- the first by a premier of the world's most populous democracy in nearly 13 years.
Vajpayee's plan is to make the five-day visit starting Feb. 10. Amid a thaw in frosty bilateral relations, he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and other Japanese political and business leaders, and have an audience with the Emperor.
But the earthquake, which struck only two days after the Cabinet formally decided to invite Vajpayee this month and could, by some estimates, eventually claim the lives of as many as 100,000 people, may force the Indian leader to postpone the trip, setting back diplomatic efforts to put soured bilateral ties back on a sound footing.